Goth

/ɡɒθ/

noun

1.

a member of an East Germanic people from Scandinavia who settled south of the Baltic early in the first millennium ad. They moved on to the Ukrainian steppes and raided and later invaded many parts of the Roman Empire from the 3rd to the 5th century See also Ostrogoth, Visigoth

2.

a rude or barbaric person

3.

(sometimes not capital) an aficionado of Goth music and fashion

adjective

4.

(sometimes not capital) Also Gothic

(of music) in a style of guitar-based rock with some similarities to heavy metal and punk and usually characterized by depressing or mournful lyrics

Old English Gota (plural Gotan) "a Goth" (see Gothic). In 19c., in reference to living persons, it meant "a Gothicist" (1812), "an admirer of the Gothic style, especially in architecture." Modern use as an adjective in reference to a subculture style is from 1986, short for Gothic.

By 1982, when the legendary Batcave club opened in London, the music press had begun to use the term gothic rock to describe the music and fandom around which a new postpunk subculture was forming. [Lauren M.E. Goodlad & Michael Bibby, "Goth: Undead Subculture," 2007]